Make sure you fill out the contact form at the bottom if you want to be a judge.

You can sign up to judge only the rounds that work for you. If you can only do round 2, that is still a big help.

Round 3 will be an in person event or events in the southern New England area.

Judge Requirements

One of the most valuable things participants of this contest will get is feedback from judges on their games.

To make that feedback as valuable as possible, I’m hoping to get a lot of judges from a variety of backgrounds.

I’m trying to make the judging process simple so that it will not require a major time commitment on your part.

The contest takes place over 3 rounds. You can sign up for only the rounds you are able to judge (e.g., you may sign up for rounds 1 and 2, which are done remotely and not round 3 which will be done in person).The first two rounds involve video and PDF submissions and can be judged remotely. The third round will be play testing physical prototypes, so it will most likely be restricted to judges local to the southern New England area.

If you would like to be a judge, you can judge one or multiple rounds. Below are the minimum commitments for each round and the scheduled time. Times may change.

Round One

Judging for round one is scheduled from September 20, 2018 to October 1, 2018.

Players will submit a pitch video no longer than 2 minutes and a text description no longer than 500 characters.

The minimum judging for round one is 5 entries.

For each entry you will watch the video, read the text description and fill out a judging form.

The judging form consists of 3 questions that will be rated on a scale of 1-5.

How innovative is the game?

How excited are you to play the game?

How well was the game idea presented?

One yes or no question.

Should this game move on to Round 2?

And an open response field for written feedback. For round one the feedback doesn’t have to be extensive. About 2 sentences would be good, but you can write as much as you want. The feedback will be shared with the designer, so keep it appropriate. Your feedback can be anonymous or you can fill in your name.

Round Two

Judging for round two is scheduled from October 18, 2018 to October 29, 2018.

Players will submit a PDF of their rules, a how to play video, and an updated text description no longer than 500 characters.

The minimum judging for round two is 3 entries.

For each entry you will read the rules and description and watch the video. Even if you did not judge round one you will have access to their original pitch video for reference. Then you will fill out a judging form similar to round one.

Four questions with a 1-5 scale.

How clear are the written rules?

How clear is the how to play video?

How innovative is the game?

How excited are you to play the game?

One yes or no question.

Should the game move on to Round 3?

And an open response field for written feedback. Round two feedback should be more in depththan round one with at least 4 sentences. The feedback will be shared with the designer, so keep it appropriate. Your feedback can be anonymous or you can fill in your name.

Round Three

Judging for round three is scheduled from November 29, 2018 to December 23, 2018.

For round three you must play all 5 games and be available for discussions.

Round three will consist of playing the physical prototypes for the top 5 games, discussing them, and providing in depth written feedback.

Based on the play tests, the designers’ interviews, all previous contest submission material, and an audience vote, a winner will be chosen.

Contest Judging Management

The judging will be run using Google forms, Google sheets, and Slack. If any of that is a problem for you, let me know and we can work around it. The list of submissions will be open to all judges to choose the games they would like to judge. I will keep it updated with how many forms have been submitted for each entry so judges can focus on the games that need more views.

Discussing Entries

One goal of the contest is to allow participants to improve their designs between rounds. I hope to get the feedback out quickly to facilitate this. In addition, you should feel free to discuss designs openly in hopes of generating more feedback for the designers. Designers will be notified when signing up that their game will be discussed publicly.

This is not a requirement. If you do discuss designs openly, please keep the conversation polite and constructive.

Become a Judge

If you are willing to help judge the contest, please fill out this form to let me know your contact information, what rounds you are available to judge, and how you would like your name listed on the website. I will contact you later for a picture of you to post on the website.

If you are a judge, you can not enter the contest. If you entered the contest, you can not be a judge.